First Flight of the Rocket

Rocket got his first airplane flight earlier than we had originally planned. Insitu signed up to participate in an engineering job fair at MIT, and of course the obvious people to go would be the MIT alums. Free trip to Boston! We'd take Rocket with us and extend the trip to visit with as many of our friends as we could fit in. More on the trip will be coming later, but his first flight deserves its own post!

Our flight left Portland early on Thursday morning, so we booked a hotel room next to the airport for Wednesday night. After our exhausting previous day and the departure flight early the following morning, we had intended to head to bed early. However, it didn't quite work out that way; I think we made it to bed sometime before 11pm. Anders slept in the corner of our tiny hotel room, swaddled in blankets, on top of Corinne's down coat, with a chair as a barrier so that we didn't accidentally step on him in the middle of the night.

Aside from having to get up early, traveling with him was pretty easy. Our airline tickets were pretty inexpensive - particularly for a non-stop flight across the country - so we bought him his own seat and brought along his car seat and associated stroller frame. He was an easy traveler, sleeping for much of the flight out.

When he wasn't sleeping, he was as happy as can be. He was particularly interested in checking out everyone else on the plane when I walked him up and down the aisle. Of course part of that was to show him off, too.

A kid like this makes the parents look GOOD - but he deserves all of the credit!

- Mike, Corinne, and Anders Rocket

Crazy 24 Hours

Here's our story of the craziest 24 hours we've had in quite a while...

It started off fairly mundane. Tuesday morning Anders required three diaper changes in order to get out of the house (thankfully, only a single outfit). We dropped him off with Debbie and spent a normal morning at work.

At around 1pm Corinne and I picked up Anders and started toward Portland. We had agreed to represent Insitu's software department at a special hiring event there on the condition that we could take our little guy with us. The company rented out a large meeting room at a hotel and set up tables staffed by each of the areas of the company that have openings (which is basically all of them). On our way there I-84 was starting to get messy from a combination rain and sleet, so the going was slow and we arrived just in time for the beginning of the event. Initially I had thought that the bad weather might deter people, but I had forgotten about the state of the economy...

HR estimated that over 1,000 people showed up at this Insitu-only job fair! During the first three hours of the four hour event, the Software/Avionics table alone had a line of between 30-50 people waiting to speak to one of us. As a result the event became less one-on-one interviewing and more speed dating. I wish I had taken some pictures, particularly of Corinne talking to potential candidates in the middle of a crowded room, with Anders on her shoulder.

When the event was over, we packed Anders back into the car and started the drive back to the Gorge. The weather had cleared by now, and the roads were relatively quiet. Corinne sat in the back seat with Anders, and for a while both were asleep. But it was when we arrived in Hood River that the real "excitement" of the evening occurred.

Since Anders had been asleep for some time, Corinne decided that she would move to the front passenger seat to keep me company. So when we stopped at the stop sign at the bottom of our exit, Corinne hopped out of the car to change seats. As soon as she closed the back door she heard skidding from behind us and saw another car coming down the exit ramp, and it clearly wasn't going to stop in time. She ran from our car and watched as Anders and I were rear-ended! The impact pushed us a car length or so into the intersection, which thankfully was empty. Once our car stopped moving, Corinne hopped back in the car and we pulled off to the side of the road.

Anders - who had been sleeping in the back seat - awoke and started crying. Our initial concerns, of course, were whether he was okay. After a minute or so, though, he stopped crying and then smiled at Corinne. After I had exchanged information with the other driver and contacted our insurance company, I had to keep my calm so that I could drive us all home.

It all happened so fast. It's only when we think back on it that we realize what could have happened and how much worse it could have been. I mean, Corinne wasn't even in the car! The other vehicle was actively trying to stop, so by the time he hit us he wasn't going terribly fast, and both our bumpers did what they are designed to do. The next day I wasn't even sore, and a quick call to our pediatrician allayed any remaining fears we had about Anders.

But Tuesday night wasn't done yet. Since we were leaving for a trip to Boston the following day, we stayed up late that night to finish packing. At around 1am, in the middle of doing laundry, the power went out. Dang wind storms! So we went to bed. Corinne woke up around 2:30am to lights on all over the house; the power had come back. So she got up, restarted the laundry and then headed back to bed, exhausted.

The car repairs would have to wait until we returned from our trip. The damage doesn't look that bad at first glance, but we suspect that the repairs will be fairly extensive; there is damage to at least one of the side panels, the back door will need to be replaced, and the hitch looks bent as well. The accident was clearly the other drivers' fault; unfortunately, he had let his insurance lapse just a few months earlier. Thank goodness for "uninsured motorist" insurance.

I hope it is a long time before we have another day like that!

- Mike, Corinne, and Anders Rocket

Rocket Is Four Months Old

We can't quite believe it, but Rocket is now over 4 months old. Milestones hit during that fourth month:

• Head control. You don't have to support his head when you hold him anymore.
  
• Kung-fu action grip. He has much better control of his arms now, and will grab things and hold them - though it is clear that he has to concentrate.
  
• Talking. No, we're not talking about actual words here, but the sounds he makes have become more complex, including...
  
• Giggling. It's awesome! His laughs make you want to laugh, which of course makes him laugh more.

He still sleeps through the night (9pm-5am or so), thank goodness. And we're continuing to swaddle him when he sleeps, although he manages to get one or more arms out by morning at least half of the time.

When his pseudo big brother Zak found out that it was Anders's 4 month birthday, he just had to make sure that he got a balloon to celebrate! I'm sure you'll be seeing some photos of Zak here eventually, along with a litany of hilariously cute quotes from him as well.

Both Corinne and I even stopped by daycare at lunchtime to take photos with Anders in the natural daylight, but of course that was the one day that he decided to nap through lunch. By that night he was exhausted.

- Mike, Corinne, and Anders Rocket

Generational Shawl

Anders is a bit of a slow eater. When he nurses, it often takes 45 minutes or more before he inevitably falls asleep. Yes, that is a long time. It should be noted, however, that he will finish a bottle in 5-10 minutes, so I guess he must just enjoy Mom's company.

During that time Corinne can get cold. But my Mom provided a solution in the form of a shawl that she knitted and used when I was a baby!

- Mike, Corinne, and Anders Rocket

Childbirth Class Reunion

Back when Corinne was pregnant with 'Rocket', we decided that we would take a childbirth class at the local hospital. We didn't really learn that much in the class; we joke that the best thing about the class was that it forced us to watch those "labor and delivery" videos that we would never watch on our own. And the walk around the Hood River Hospital maternity ward certainly didn't help when he was born in Seattle. But it was good to meet some other parents who would have kids around the same age.

Now that all of the kids have been born we all got together for a "childbirth class reunion" to meet the new arrivals! We got together at a local brewery (ironic, huh?) on a Thursday night. Anders had the latest due date, but because he was born 3+ weeks early and another baby was several weeks late he ended up being the second youngest of the group. It was interesting to see the different looks of each of the kids, and how much they really did look like their parents.

Towards the end of the evening we put all the kids on the couch for a group shot. Unfortunately because Anders's had been nursing just prior to the photo, he was pretty sleepy; he slept through the whole photoshoot.

Anders on the far right

We also got one with the whole families, complete with brewing equipment in the background.

- Mike, Corinne, and Anders Rocket

First Vaccinations

Anders just received his first vaccinations - Rotavirus (oral) which protects against rotavirus and DTaP (shot) which is for diptheria, tetanus, and pertussis (whooping cough). He is such a trooper. After the shot, he only cried for a couple of seconds and it was only a "you have annoyed me" cry rather than his truly upset cry. Meanwhile, I had tears running down my face in anticipation of how I thought he would respond.

Vaccines are a somewhat controversial topic for many parents these days. We held off on giving him any until we had a chance to do research and make our own decisions. For anyone wanting more information about vaccines, we found the The Vaccine Book by Robert Sears (2007) to be very helpful. The book talks about the societal positives of vaccinating as well as the possible negatives of each individual disease and its vaccine. He also provides several alternative vaccination schedules that minimize (in his view) possible side effects while still resulting in a vaccinated child. Mike heard the author on a recent episode of our favorite radio show, This American Life. Dr. Sears quoted Star Trek: "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few - or the one."

Contemplating the needs of the one

On a lighter daycare note, Zachary had gotten out his baby (doll) so that the babies could talk. On our way out, Zachary said, "Bring the baby back tomorrow!"

- Corinne, Mike, and Anders Rocket

Back To Work

January 6th was my first day back to work. I can't say that I was very excited to go but it wasn't so bad after all. Since I didn't have to deal with any work politics on that first day it actually was fairly pleasant. I'm only working part time so I just have to make it through three days before I get to enjoy "Anders Days" again.

For childcare, we found a stay-at-home mom, Debbie, to watch Anders. She lives close to work so I can easily walk over at lunch time to nurse Anders. The cutest thing is that Debbie's 3 1/2 year old son Zachary had this Christmas request: "I want a baby for Christmas... a REAL one."

Anders did really well on his first day in "daycare", but he did cry when I handed him over to Debbie. I honestly didn't think he'd care or notice but I guess he does! Good to know Mom is number #1 even if I don't get the most smiles.

When I stopped by at lunch, Zachary was on the floor right next to Anders making up stories about his duck to tell Anders. So adorable! I think Zachary and Anders will both enjoy each other.

In honor of work, here is my management team head shot, taken when I was about 7.5 months pregnant. The photographer cropped it such that you can't tell that my jacket doesn't fit around my then very pregnant belly. (Well, now that you know the secret, you probably can tell!)

- Corinne, Mike, and Anders Rocket

Favorite Recipes of 2008

It's time for the 2008 installment in the Favorites Recipes series. (Here are the previous years' installments: 2007, 2006.) For some reason we didn't seem to do as much experimentation with new recipes this year as in previous years, but we did manage to come up with some real winners.

#1: Pork Burros
Source: Ilvedson family recipe
We learned this first one from Corinne's Mom last January. She originally got it from a friend of hers when she was living in Los Angeles around 1970, and it was a recipe that she formulated as a recreation of a favorite local restaurant dish. Corinne was served this dish often as a kid. We made this one a lot this year, and it is a great "make lots and freeze" dish, particularly since you start with a 5lb pork shoulder. Tasty, tasty.

#2: Roasted Garlic Herb Oil
Source: Ilvedson family recipe
This one is a cheat - we've had this recipe for some time. But we did make it quite a bit this year, including making it as gifts. Have some on hand and you have a really easy way to quickly season roasted veggies.

#3: Enchiladas Lasagna
Source: Alton Brown
Alton is our hero. This is some really good stuff, and easy. I suggest making a large batch of the enchilada sauce at one time, then freezing in appropriate sizes. The original recipe didn't call for spinach in the filling, but I had some lying around the first time I made it and figured that I could bump up the nutrition. Worked great, and I've used it ever since.

#4: Quick Bean Cassoulet
Source: Sunset Magazine (by way of The Oregonian)
Our friends Jamie and Torsten introduced us to this one. Beans, chicken and sausage make this casserole a heart-warming meal. We almost never have leftover chicken, but even if you have to cook chicken it's still quick and easy. And delicious. A good comfort food for those colder days.

#5: Brown Sugar Cookies
Source: Cooks Illustrated, Mar 2007
These cookies are sort like chocolate chip cookies, but with a richer flavor (and no chips). Use "real" brown sugar with these for the best flavor; most grocery store brown sugars are simply white sugar with molasses sprayed on them.

#6: Chewy Chocolate Cookies
Source: Cook's Illustrated, Jan 2009
These are some seriously good chocolate cookies. Use good chocolate (Callebaut, Valrhona, etc.) The chocolate chunks might seem like they are too big, but they bake up perfectly, leaving nice sized chocolate goodness in each cookie. I think they taste better after a day or so - but who can wait? The recipe makes 16 large cookies, so consider forming the balls slightly smaller and/or making a double batch.

What were your favorite recipes this year? Send them to us!

- Mike, Corinne, and Anders Rocket

Max's 2008 Critter Count

The end of the year is a good time to review the accomplishments of the previous year, and it's no different for a cat.

Max had a productive 2008. This was the year that we finally allowed him outside on his own without supervision (though we do still restrict it to daylight hours.) As a result, his catches for the year included:

• Nine mice
  
• Four birds
  
• Two gophers

Of course, it wasn't all positive. He also got stuck up a tree, was chased by a coyote, disappeared for 3 days, and gave Leif poison oak.

But the important thing is that he's still here, doing well, and I'm sure he's looking forward to the spring thaw so that he can start hunting again.

As a celebration of the successes of the year, Max and I played "Guitar Hero". Sort of.

Watch this video on YouTube
or in the original blog post

- Mike, Corinne, Anders Rocket, and Max

New Year's Pajama Party

For New Year's our friends Amy and Andrew hosted a pajama party. They couldn't decide if they wanted to go out partying or just stay home in their PJs, so they decided to do both. Everyone was to wear their favorite pajamas, and there would be prizes for Cutest Couple, Most Risque, and Most Creative.

As you can see, we were pretty much a "lock" on cutest. Donna had made these matching pajamas for the two of us many years ago - shortly after we got married, I think. She held on to the leftover fabric and when she found out that Rocket was arriving made an outfit for him as well.

Several other couples at the party had matching outfits, but no one else had our "secret weapon" - a matching baby! Donna came with us to the party as well, but her pajamas were different. If they had been the same, some people's heads may have exploded from over-cute (mine included).

Our "prizes" were the doo-dads on our heads. Happy New Year!

- Mike, Corinne, and Anders Rocket

Christmas, Delayed

This year we planned Christmas to be smaller and more low-key than any previous years. Little did we know precisely what that would mean, and that Christmas would be delayed not once, but twice.

We put the tree up on Christmas Eve but decided to wait until Christmas Day to finish decorating. Meanwhile, the winter storms kept coming. Seattle and Portland were continually blanketed with snow and ice, crippling the cities. We certainly were getting our fair share as well. Earlier in the day on Christmas Eve I had gone out to plow the driveway only to discover that I had neglected to plug in the engine block heater on the tractor. Diesels don't like cold weather, and they show their displeasure by not starting. So I plugged it in and had planned to plow the following day. Yes, snow plowing on Christmas Day. But it gets worse.

At 2am Christmas morning we awoke not to the sound of a crying baby - thankfully that is becoming more rare - but rather the sounds of beeping. We instantly recognized them as the "warning" bells on the UPS units that protect our electronic equipment. Power outage! Corinne, always a few steps ahead of me in terms of disaster planning, pauses for a few moments and says something like: "I hate to even mention it, but do you think you should try to start the tractor?" Where we are, a power outage in December could last for a few hours or a few days. As cold as it was, the tractor would never start without the electricity to heat the engine. And without the tractor, we could be snowed in for quite some time. After a few moments trying to come up with an alternative plan, I get out of bed, put on my gear and trudge out to the tractor at 2:30am to try to plow.

The tractor still won't start. So I head back to bed, and we both start to stress a bit about what that could mean. Somehow we managed to fall back asleep.

Thankfully, the power returned at about 8am on Christmas morning. A quick call to Reidar confirmed what I had been thinking, which is that the battery probably needed a stronger charge in order to start in these temps. A few more hours on both the battery charger and the engine block heater fixed the tractor's woes, and the driveway was clear again. But we decided to postpone celebrating Christmas to the following day, hoping for a more auspicious start. Christmas would officially be celebrated on December 26th this year. After all, Rocket doesn't know the difference.

The two guests we were sure we would have for Christmas were Donna and Leif. But that wasn't working out so well either. Donna had planned to drive down to visit us on Christmas day, but she had been stuck on Mercer Island for several days. It wasn't looking very good for her to get out on Christmas either. Leif, on the other hand, had been stuck in Portland when I-84 closed for three days. He was still there.

December 26th arrived and we were still by ourselves. We had a few more brief (several minutes to an hour) power outages, but nothing lasting. So we took a walk. By this point the weather was starting to look up, and I-84 had re-opened. Donna was going to take the train to Portland, traveling with Taryn who was heading to Eugene to spend time with David's family. When Donna arrived in Portland she would be met by Leif, and then the two of them would head our way and be here by dinner. In theory.

Train travel being what it is in this country, Donna's train didn't arrive in Portland until nighttime, so she and Leif opted to stay there for the night. We decided to delay Christmas once again so that they could share in Anders's first Christmas.

Finally, late on the morning of December 27th, our guests arrived! Christmas was saved!

This year we convinced both of our families to forgo the massive gift-giving that usually occurs at Christmas. Instead we went with a "kids only" approach, so virtually all of the gifts under the tree were for Anders. After all, we had already gotten our big gift for this year:

- Mike, Corinne, and Anders Rocket

Winter Walk With An Ewok

Christmas this year was delayed. But that is the subject of the next post...

For now, just know that on the 26th we dressed Anders in one of his winter outfits and took him for a walk outside. If he's going to grow up in Trout Lake, we figured we should start acclimating him to winter sooner rather than later.

This outfit is a hand-me-down that we got from our friends Jen and Dave (who got it from Amy and Andrew - don't you just love hand-me-downs?) When we first put it on him neither of us could keep from giggling. It's so ridiculous, yet so cute it's almost sickening. What you can't see in any of these photos is that it also has a tail.

Daddy's little Ewok

- Mike, Corinne, and Anders Rocket

This Year's Christmas Tree

We didn't cut a tree at Thanksgiving this year (since we weren't here). And with the combination of Anders and snow removal taking up so much of our time and energy, we got all the way to Christmas Eve without a Christmas tree. We needed to get one, though; without it we knew it just wouldn't feel like Christmas. With only the two of us (adults) here and one busy watching Anders, it was up to me to find a tree.

I grabbed a saw and ventured out into our woods on the afternoon of Christmas Eve. The weather wasn't exactly conducive to the task, though; snow had been falling for several days with little wind, so the branches of all the trees were heavily laden.

I took a quick walk into one of our Grand Fir stands. Since our trees are now many years past their Christmas Tree prime, it is a challenge to find one of an appropriate size to get into our Great Room. In previous years we have spent a fair amount of time looking for such a tree; since I was on my own this year and knew that I would have to drag it back to the house through about 2 feet of snow, I didn't spent too long on the hunt.

In about 15 minutes I had found a tree that I thought would work. It was, of course, way too tall - at least 30'+. After sawing it down, I cut it in half as a first approximation of what we would want inside. A second look told me that more would need to go. In the end I left three pieces of the tree in the woods and brought only the very top inside.

When I began to drag the tree back to the house, I was glad that I had selected one that was close by.

With some vigorous tree-shaking outside and a short drying period inside we managed to get most of the snow off. The worst part of any tree-decorating, at least in our house, is attaching the lights. (That's probably because we're a bit OCD.) It took us a few hours to light the tree and secure it in its base. There was plenty of room between branches for ornaments, which was a result of both the relatively quick search and the fact that it came from only the top. We waited until the following day to hang the majority of them, though.

The tree ended up at about 14' tall or so, which is a bit smaller than in previous years. It has always been a challenge to properly support a tree of the size that we (read: I) want to put up. We have a great space with a tall ceiling, so why shouldn't we put up the biggest tree we could fit? And you just know that Anders is going to want a big tree - think of the children!

Our solution has always been a combination of a standard-size Christmas tree stand and several guide wires connected to the window frame, and there has been varying degrees of concern as to the integrity and safety of this combination. This will be the last year that we have to worry, though; we finally bit the bullet and bought a commercial Christmas tree stand suitable for a 20' tree! (Thank you, Craigslist!)

And in years to come, when Rocket is a bit older (possibly next year?), selecting and cutting the tree can be a whole family event again!

- Mike, Corinne, and Anders Rocket

Owl

We had a beautiful snowy day today with about 18" of powder on the ground and more coming down. This morning I looked out the great room window from the upstairs bedroom to see a coyote sitting on the berm. He had to hop around to maneuver in all of the snow.

Then I went downstairs and heard a lot of screeching. I followed the noise and found scrub jays harassing an owl who (hoo?) was perched under our portico, sitting on a wrought iron flower basket hook. The owl was just a little guy at maybe 8" in length. At first we were really quiet so that we could take photos but it turned out that he didn't mind us. He also completely ignored the scrub jays. He stayed there until Mike went outside to snow-blow the driveway.

I thought he might be a Northern Pygmy-Owl which are 6 3/4" in length. The bird book says, "Birders may locate the owl by watching for mobbing songbirds" and pictures the Pygmy-Owl with a dead scrub jay in his talons. But the Pygmy-Owl lacks ear tufts and this little guy definitely has ear tufts. Therefore, I think he is a Western Screech-Owl (8 1/2") which are common in open woodlands.

I especially like his white feathers. They look cozy.

- Corinne, Mike, and Anders Rocket

Three Months Old

Anders Rocket is now three months old! It's kinda hard to believe. Everyone tells you to treasure the time because it goes by so fast; now I guess we know what they mean.



Milestones that Anders reached by the three month mark:

• Sleeping through the night! We generally get him to bed sometime between 10 and 11pm (he won't go any earlier), and on a good night he sleeps until 6am. Compared to a month ago, that seems like a luxury!
  
• Lots of smiling. He smiles all of the time nowadays, particularly at us.
  
• Outgrowing clothes. We have now officially "retired" some of his clothes because they are too short. I'm sure this will be a recurring event.
  

- Mike, Corinne, and Anders Rocket

Max's New Perch

After a recent holiday cookie-baking episode, we returned to the kitchen to find this:

I'm sure it was warm there, with all of the residual heat from the oven rising to warm him. But it sure doesn't look like a good idea. One of these days he'll try that when a burner is on!

- Mike, Corinne, and Anders Rocket (and Max)

Snow Arrives in Trout Lake

Snow came a bit later to Trout Lake this year than last year, and that was just fine with us.

This would be our second year clearing our own driveway. Not wanting to repeat any of last year's horrible start to plowing, I spent the better part of a day in early December attaching the snow blower to the tractor and rearranging the equipment so that the tractor was ready to go. (Of course, if the snow had come when it did last year - late November - I would not have been ready!)

The first snow arrived in mid-December during a particularly cold spell. Temperatures were routinely in the 10s-20s during the day, and would frequently get down to single-digits at night. (Thank goodness the furnace was fixed!) The advantage of such cold weather, though, is that the snow was very light and fluffy, and thus easy to move. The first accumulation was no more than a couple inches, but it was a good opportunity to practice.

We also thought this would be a good chance to get Rocket out in the winter weather. So we bundled him up in his snowsuit, put him in the stroller, covered him with blankets, and ventured out on a walk to the mailbox. The stroller provided fairly good protection from the wind, but by about the halfway point Anders decided he was done. We finished our walk briskly and returned to the warmth inside.

The second snowfall came a few days later and provided more substantial accumulation. Temperatures remained arctic, so removal was a snap. I've even managed to come up with a plowing pattern that drastically reduces the amount of shoveling and should be much more maintainable throughout the season.

This storm created all sorts of problems in Seattle and Portland, and even caused I-84 to be closed for several days. But somehow the storm was kind to us; maybe it's because most of the precipitation had already been dropped by the time the storm got to us. Let's hope the remainder of the season goes this well!

- Mike, Corinne, and Anders Rocket

Yes, Anders Does Cry

We are often asked if Anders ever cries. He does cry, but it doesn't happen very often. He is a pretty chill baby most of the time; we've really lucked out! In fact, he has a rather polite way of coo/whining to let us know that he is hungry or ready for a new activity.

Watch this video on YouTube
or in the original blog post

But on this particular day, he exhibited some good crying. We're not really sure why but as you can see, we even think this is cute and can't help being amused. So here it is - proof that Anders does cry.

Watch this video on YouTube
or in the original blog post

- Corinne, Mike, and Anders Rocket

Glad Anders Dag!

Shakin' his boo-tay

Glad Anders Dag, or Happy Anders Day! In much of Scandinavia (or at least in Norway and Sweden that I could verify), November 30th is the day to celebrate those with the name of Anders. It seems many countries have an official "Name Day Calendar" like this.

We didn't know any of this - including that this idea even existed - until Reidar called to wish Anders a happy day. Go figure! I guess we'll have to add this to our holiday calendar. (It would have been nicer, though, if it had fallen somewhere else in the year; we have enough to celebrate in November/December as it is!)

- Mike, Corinne, and Anders Rocket